RIPON, Wis. - After four games, the Ripon College football team will finally open Midwest Conference divisional play this weekend when the results begin to affect who will play for the MWC Championship at season's end. Ripon will battle St. Norbert on Saturday in the 42nd meeting on the gridiron between the two teams. SNC holds a 30-11 lead in the all-time series, and have won the last nine meetings, and 18 of the last 19 with Ripon's only win during that span coming in 2008. The Green Knights have also won 12 conference championships during the last two decades.

"I don't have to say an awful lot about this rivalry to our players," Ripon College Head Football Coach Ron Ernst said. "Our upperclassmen educate our younger players about how important this game is. It's the first division game of the season, and if we want to win the conference championship, we have to win our division first. We take things one game at a time and stay as focused as possible in order to improve each week as a football team."

On paper, the two teams are about as evenly matched as can be, as both teams are ranked among the national leaders in Division-III. Ripon leads the MWC in scoring with 44.8 points per game, which is 19th in D-III, while also ranking third in the country with a league-best 342.5 rushing yards per game. Traditionally a run-first team, Ripon has also proven that they can move the ball through the air, ranking seventh in the country in yards per completion (18.1), while quarterback Julian Patton ranks second in the league for pass efficiency, throwing seven touchdowns without an interception. Running Back Austin Bunders is among the nation's leaders with seven touchdowns, which leads the conference and is 28th in D-III. The Red Hawks, which also lead the conference in total offense (459.8 ypg), have had three different leading rushers in their four games this season and have three players (Bunders, Cormac Madigan, and Tyler VanDeVelde) ranked among the top seven for rushing yards in the MWC.

"Defenses are always going to try to take away what a team does best or take away the other team's best player," Ernst said. "With our offense, there's so many different people that have the ability to lead us in rushing and so many different people touch the ball, which is the thing we like most about our offense."

St. Norbert's offense has been just as potent this season, averaging 41 points and 239.5 rushing yards, and 388.8 yards of total offense per game, all of which rank second in the MWC, behind only Ripon. They have two players (Jadon Sackman and Drew Rhodes) among the top nine rushers in the MWC. 

"They're a very good team, and have shown that they can score points, while also shutting people out on defense, but they just happen to be the next team on our schedule," Ernst said. "My motto has always been, 'We fear no one, but respect everyone', and this is no different. We have a lot of respect for St. Norbert, and we're going to do everything we can to play our game and not worry too much about what they're trying to do. If we play how we're capable of, I think we'll have a good day on Saturday."

Defensively, St. Norbert has been one of the toughest teams in all of Division-III, ranking 12th in the country in points allowed with a conference-best 9.3 points per game. They also lead the league in fewest yards allowed (182.8 ypg), fewest first downs allowed (12.0/game), opponents third-down percentage (19.4 percent), and pass defense efficiency (72.5). The Green Knights lead all Division-III teams with five defensive touchdowns this season, and have not allowed a point in their last two games.

"They run to the ball extremely well, their linebackers are very good and they are tremendous at executing their defense," Ernst said. "They have very good athletes on that side of the ball, so we're going to have to find some good match ups."

Ripon will bring a defense into the game that is stout in their own right, leading the country in turnovers forced (17). Ripon's turnover margin of +2 per game also leads the MWC and ranks seventh in the country. The Red Hawks also lead the MWC in both interceptions (9) and fumble recoveries (8), which rank ninth and fifth, respectively, in D-III. They are allowing just 10.3 points per game, which ranks second in the MWC and 16th in D-III. Ripon's Red-Zone defense of 50.0 percent is also among the nation's best, ranking second in the conference and 14th in D-III. They have allowed just 10 points in their last three games.

Whoever wins this weekend's tilt will have a leg up on the competition, as half of the North Divisions six teams will be one game up on the other three teams with four games to play.

"There's only five division games on the schedule, so that doesn't give teams a lot of lee-way, and that means we must get off to a good start," Ernst said. "One loss does not ruin our division chances, but one win goes a long way. It's a very important game because we want to get off to a good start within the division and take that next step in order to put us in position to compete for a conference championship at the end of the season."

Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m. at Schneider Stadium in De Pere, Wis., and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/, with LiveStats available at https://www.snc.edu/athletics/teamfiles/livestats/xlive.htm.